I certainly don't think you have to use a back cinch. I haven't used one since I bought my horse 3 1/2 years ago.

back cinches are to help keep the saddle on for if the horse bucks or something. i used to have a back cinch on my old saddle because it came with it. but i have to take it off because Gracie bucked whenever i asked her to canter. (The buckle was hitting her side)

i had one on my western show saddle but i took it off - i dont really like to use one - it just takes up to much time to put it on and my horse dosent like it - if i were you and my spurs kept hitting it or they got stuck i wouldnt use one

The back cinch is there to help hold the saddle in place. Preventing the saddle from being pulled up off the horses back. Cowboys on working ranches almost always wear one. If you are roping or attaching anything to the horn of the saddle, it keeps the saddle from being flopped forward.

Look up pictures by Tim Cox. He has beautiful picture of working cowboys on their horses.

If your spurs are getting caught on it, I suggest taking them both off, because you are having problems with where to place your legs.

One thing you can do to see if you think you need the flank cinch is to lunge your horse and see how much flopping the back of the saddle does. Which really, if the back of the saddle is flopping up and down that much it doesn't fit the horse correctly, but as long as the saddle isn't bothering the horses back you would then need the flank cinch to hold the back down. Ropers use them to keep the saddle from being pulled over the horses when roping a calf and ropers cinch the flank cinch up as tight as the front cinch. In general you want it snug enough that you can slide the flat of your hand in. Even being a smaller looking saddle is seems like you are getting the spurs to far back rather then farther "under" the horse. In my experience you get them farther under then use them to get the horse to "lift".

Hey everyone,

Last time I lunged Tonto with a saddle on, it didn't flop around or anything. That saddle fits him quite nicely, in my opinion. (It should, since we got it specially-made and fitted!)

But I'm not so sure that my leg position has anything do with it... I compete in horsemanship/equitation classes and I place well in them, nobody ever says anything bad about my leg position... My trainer says that they are good with toes up/heels down and not too far back or forward. It's just the end of the spurs that gets caught occasionally when I go to apply them.

Another thing to just keep in mind is that the saddle in the picture is definitely not my 15 inch! It seems to be much bigger... but even the BO agreed that sometimes with some saddles spurs can get caught in the back cinch... He told me it was up to me to decide if I wanted to use it or not.

And no, I am not doing roping or anything that involves tying stuff to the saddle horn. Occasionally cattle penning, gaming and the likes, but no roping.

Might not call your horse Tonto. It means stupid. That's right - The Lone Ranger called his buddy Stupid. Just a thought from Indian Country where you need the smartest horse you can find. Jane

Two year old post! LOL!

janeinthemtns:

Might not call your horse Tonto. It means stupid. That's right - The Lone Ranger called his buddy Stupid.

Well, having watched every Lone Ranger TV episode about 50 times while a kid, I can't count the times the Lone Ranger sent Tonto into town for some innocuous reason, where he was usually always either beaten, knocked out, thrown in jail or all three. That seems pretty "tonto" to me! At some point you would expect a normal person to say "No way! YOU go into town yourself, paleface!"

But Tonto managed to get his dig at the Lone Ranger, too. "Kemosabe" allegedly means "trusty scout" in whatever language Tonto spoke. And...  if you break it down phonetically, in Spanish it translates curiously close to  "Que no sabe" or "He who knows nothing." Gotta love Spanish... where the word for "wife" (esposa) also means "handcuffs". ~FH

FloridaHorseman:

Gotta love Spanish... where the word for "wife" (esposa) also means "handcuffs".

 HELLOOOO PEOPLE!!! IF YOUR SADDLE IS TIPPING UP AND LEAVING YOUR HORSES BACK THEN THE SADDLE DOESN'T FIT!!!!!  No rear cinch will fix an ill-fitting saddle!! If your saddle fits correctly it should balance evenly across your horses back all the time! (unless dragging a steer... in which case you do need a rear cinch, but because of other forces)  If you are just riding in the arena, etc. your saddle should not be lifting up in the back.  If it is then your tree is too wide in the front and you either need a new saddle or some corrective padding.

If you do decide you want to use a back cinch you can try a thin style to keep it from interfering with your spurs.  If I ride a saddle with a wide rear cinch (like ropers use to disperse pressure) then I have trouble with it getting in my way.  If I use a thinner rear cinch I normally don't have that problem at all.

 oh.. and my BF's World Champion Cowboy Mounted Shooting horse's name is Tanto... sure he can be a dumbass... (the spanish translation) but heck...  he's a world champion.  See pic (he is the paint) on following website http://www.westernclinics.com/Cowboy-Mounted-Shooting.php

madel_equestrian:

HELLOOOO PEOPLE!!! IF YOUR SADDLE IS TIPPING UP AND LEAVING YOUR HORSES BACK THEN THE SADDLE DOESN'T FIT!!!!! 

Geez, what would we do without you to set us all straight (and keep us awake)?  How have I managed with my horses the last 47 years without you yelling your never ending knowledge?

btw, there is no such word as tAnto in Spanish or English, unless he's Japanese and was named after a short sword or dagger.

 easy there txspots... I didn't mean to insult you and that wasn't aimed at any one person, but more to the collective group that have been telling this poor girl that the rear cinch is to keep the saddle flat on your horse's back.  if your saddle won't sit flat on your horse's back without a rear cinch then it doesn't fit and it is more than likely that you are causing your horse discomfort even with a rear cinch to try and patch the mess. 

madel_equestrian:

I didn't mean to insult you and that wasn't aimed at any one person, but more to the collective group that have been telling this poor girl that the rear cinch is to keep the saddle flat on your horse's back.

Just where is the "collective group" that has been telling "this poor girl" anything about the flank cinch being used to correct saddle fit? It DOES hold the saddle flat for roping activities. And the "collective group" (two people) who said that are correct. They also specifically pointed out the flank cinch has no function or ability to correct saddle fit. And "this poor girl" didn't post about saddle fit or even say it was a problem (she has a custom fitted saddle). An empty saddle that flops in the back during longeing does not necessarily mean it doesn't fit either. Her spurs were hitting the cinch. That was her question. That's all.

And this "poor girl's" original post is fast approaching it's third birthday. Plus, she hasn't posted anywhere on this forum in a year and a half. That suggests at least one thing to me. She's not hearing a word you are saying, EVEN IF YOU SHOUT!

Indeed, there may be some casual readers that don't fully understand the function of a flank cinch and find old posts like this useful. And there are always newbies to the ES forum who excitedly post to these old vampire threads because they pay no attention to the date they went stone cold. That's exactly how this one got resurrected. An innocent remark about "Tonto" and some of us decided to have some fun with it.

I think we're all glad to welcome new members to the forum and share the benefits of their experience. And hackles do occasionally get raised here as they often do in any lively debate. But to do so over a thread that had been pushing up daisies for three complete growing seasons is just plain unproductive. ~FH